Pater et Filius
by Zeionia aka Disturbed
Summary: In the midst of battle, Allen has a conversation with his father...then disposes of the witnesses. Like father, like son.


Pater et Filius

By Zeionia a.k.a. Disturbed

The attack was well planned, designed to do the greatest damage at the least cost, but that did not mean the Earl had sent anything less than his full force. The generals had gone ahead to escort the more sensitive equipment, and Helvaska, to the new home of the Black Order. The younger exorcists had been ordered to escort the science division and other non-combat personnel to the new site. There were no signs of an eminent attack, nor any reason to believe the Earl knew where they were. But the peace did not last long.

An hour into the trip, the train was derailed. A Noah had to have done it because Allen had not been alerted to the presence of any akuma at that point. It was while the disoriented passengers were starting to look for their friends and determining who had suffered injuries or worse that the real attack began.

Waves upon waves of akuma descended on the train. The sky was dark with them. Scattered here and there among them were various Noah. Allen saw Tyki Mikk and Road and several other Noah whose names he did not know, but most of the time he focused on saving akuma.

His eye was whirling so fast in his head that he thought he would be sick. He knew he was allowing other humans to see the souls of akuma at this point because when he passed a group of finders, scientists, and normal civilians they all let out horrible cries of fear and disgust. He had actually avoided fighting Tyki because the Noah had been so stunned at the sight of the akuma's souls.

The wave of battle brought him close to the other exorcists. Linali and Kanda were keeping an eye on each other. Lavi was tackling far away opponents, while Krory destroyed any akuma that slipped past Lavi's hammer. Chaoji, Miranda, and Bookman were attacking in a close knit triangle-formation. But no matter how much Allen tried, he could never fight his way closer to any of his friends before he was swept away.

The one thing Allen was glad of in this battle was the finders. They had gathered the members of the science division and the train passengers then reversed their containment shields to form force fields. This meant the exorcists could concentrate on the akuma without worrying about the safety of everyone else.

_Kanda gives them too little regard because they cannot fight. But they are even braver than we are because they cannot win but fight anyway_, thought Allen.

A level three akuma charged toward Allen, and the exorcist prepared himself to fight for his life. But the akuma, which was at least twice Allen's height and looked like it was drawn with a crayon, stopped and stared and studied. Then he threw his arms open and wrapped Allen in a bear hug.

"It is thee!" It cried. "For thou I hast been searching many, many years! I must bring thee to our lord."

With that strange comment, the akuma spread wings--one grey and one blue and both distinctly crayon-ish--and flew into the sky. As they rose above the battle ground through the ranks of attacking akuma, Allen thought he would be ill. He could see so many decaying souls spread out before him, which he had not been able to see as individuals while he had been on the ground, and the sight was devastating. The pain from his eye was also becoming increasingly worse, but the akuma was holding him so tightly he could not move, much less take a deep enough breath to scream.

"I hath found him, my lord!" cried the akuma.

Allen looked up into the grinning, maniacal face of the Millennium Earl. Anger rose in him, and he increased his attempts to wiggle out of the akuma's iron-clad grip. The Earl looked surprised to see them.

"I didn't order you to bring me Allen Walker," said the Earl. "But it certainly is a pleasant surprise."

"No, no, no," the akuma shook it head. "I do not know of Allen Walker, but I hath brought you the boy!"

Allen stopped struggling. The Earl looked dumbfounded. Neither of them knew what was going on. For one brief moment the two enemies were united in the complete and utter confusion.

The akuma misinterpreted the Earl's expression as one of disbelief. "My liege dost not believe his servant. For thirteen long years, this servant hast been searching, and my lord believeth his servant's recollections art false. I shall prove myself to thee, my lord. Thy other servants shall agree with this humble one. Spot! Calico! Come hither."

Two level two akuma rose from the rolling mass below. Both had tails, ears, muzzles, and whiskers. But one had distinctly cat-like ears, while the other had floppy dog ears. Calico and Spot, the akuma. Their approach was suddenly filled with sweeping dives and loop-de-loops. When the pair came closer, Allen could hear shouts of "You've found him!", "Bill's found him!", "It's the boy!" and "Finally, after all these years!"

A wary expression over took the Earl's face. He stared at the akuma, called Bill, for a long time—long enough for the other two to arrive—and looked at Allen with mild speculation.

"Who is he exactly?" asked the Earl.

Bill blustered. "We servants were not told his name—

"He is the boy you asked us to find," said Spot.

"The one from the country of mist and tall trees," added Calico.

Bill clarified, "The son of the women with hair of fire and eyes of cloud. The woman my liege didst court so long ago and ordered his servants to guard from harm."

Recognition floated through the Earl's face followed by disbelief and, finally, panic.

"No. It is not possible!" he said. "Allen Walker, who is your mother?"

Allen was not paying attention to the Millennium Earl or anything around him. He was fixed on a memory from his past. His strongest, next to that of Mana's revival, the one of his mother dying.

_She was so small and fragile. Weeks of illness had left her bedridden and close to death. Her shining auburn hair was dull and her grey eyes were foggy. She called for her youngest son, a child but two years old. She had a secret she must share before she died, and he was the one who needed to hear it._

"_What is it mum?" he asked._

"_My baby," she whispered. "Come closer so your mama may speak with you."_

_The young boy, the child not yet known to Mana or the Millennium Earl, sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over his mother's mouth to hear her speak._

"_Your father, your real father, is a great and powerful man." She took several wheezing breaths and the boy waited patiently. "When I am gone, he will come for you and take you to his palace."_

"_Where are you going, mum?" he asked. "Sick people don't travel."_

_The woman tried to smile but was racked by a deep cough. When she pulled her hand away from her mouth, she could see blood on her palm. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe evenly, but the breaths came with difficulty._

_Other questions flooded into the child's brain. "Who is he mum? When will he come? Where does he live?"_

"_Count," another cough, "count…thousand y-years…" A deep sigh then silence._

Allen remembered asking some inane question about a thousand. He had always assumed, once Mana had explained how big a number one thousand was, that his mother had meant his father would come after a very long time. But, he decided it didn't matter since he had Mana, then he had Cross, and finally he found a home among the exorcists. He hadn't even thought of his mother in years.

Then he realized what the akuma were trying to say and what the Earl was trying to deny.

"My mother's alive," Allen lied desperately. "They got rid of me because of my arm when I was just a baby. Mana found me. My mother and father didn't want me. She's not dead."

The Earl relaxed. "See, you must be mistaken."

"No!" said Spot.

"No!" said Calico.

"No!" said Bill. "This is the child, my lord." He clamped Allen in his hands and presented him to the Millennium Earl. "The one my liege believe to be his son. We three servants were there at the moment of his birth. It is he. We are certain."

"It's not true!" screamed Allen. "You are the only one who says so."

"I say so too," said Calico and Spot.

"We were there too," explained Calico.

Spot nodded. "We three were assigned to watched by the Earl himself. It was a special assignment. Secret. We three alone were entrusted with it."

The Earl was in a state of shock. He was shaking his head and all trace of a smile was gone from his face. Horror and the beginnings of stunned acceptance were showing in his eyes.

Allen's arm moved of it own volition. All three unprepared akuma were exorcised in a matter of seconds. He spread his cape and remained floating on level with the Earl for a short while.

"It's not true," said Allen. "And no one can say otherwise. My father is Mana. Everyone knows that."

The Earl grinned, but his usual maliciousness was lacking. His heart just was not in it. "Poor Bill, he was such a delusional akuma. It's probably for the best that you got rid of him. And those other two would believe anything he said. I'll kill you later, Allen Walker."

Allen fell away through the masses of akuma. The Millennium Earl was left alone above the battle.

Until Road floated in with Lero that was.

"I thought I saw Allen up here," she said. Then she frowned. "Is something wrong with the Count?"

The Millennium Earl gave a deep sigh. "I have received a deep wound today, Road. Tell everyone to retreat."

Road leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry. Family helps you get better when you're hurt."

Three tears dripped from the Earl's left eye, careful and measured so that Road could not see them. Then the Earl led the retreat away from the overturned train.

- - - - -

"Allen! We saw the akuma drag you away!" said Linali. "We were so worried, but we couldn't get to you."

Allen smiled at her. He could see no one was seriously hurt or poisoned. Even better, the akuma had left almost as soon as he touched ground.

"I'm fine. He just caught me off-guard is all," he explained.

"Stupid bean sprout," growled Kanda.

Allen met Kanda glare for glare. Miranda and Krory both sighed heavily.

"Allen, you look like you've been crying," Lavi said abruptly.

Allen blushed furiously and scrubbed his face with the back of his hand. "The wind made my eyes water! I dropped over a thousand feet you know."

As everyone fussed or decried the stupidity of a stunt like that, Allen felt his smile grow more and more real. He had a family now, and family would help him when he hurt.

- - - - -

End.

Please review. This is the only one-shot I have intentionally written as a one-shot and I would like feed back.


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